Keluaran 20:15

20:15 “You shall not steal. ¹ 

Keluaran 20:17

20:17 “You shall not covet ²  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ³ 

Imamat 19:11

Dealing Honestly

19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. ⁴ 

Imamat 19:13

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. ⁵  You must not withhold ⁶  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

Ulangan 24:7

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ⁷  and regards him as mere property ⁸  and sells him, that kidnapper ⁹  must die. In this way you will purge ¹⁰  evil from among you.

Ulangan 25:13-16

25:13 You must not have in your bag different stone weights, ¹¹  a heavy and a light one. ¹²  25:14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers, ¹³  a large and a small one. 25:15 You must have an accurate and correct ¹⁴  stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the Lord your God is about to give you. 25:16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent ¹⁵  to the Lord your God.

Amsal 11:1

11:1 The Lord abhors ¹⁶  dishonest scales, ¹⁷ 

but an accurate weight ¹⁸  is his delight.

Amsal 16:11

16:11 Honest scales and balances ¹⁹  are from the Lord;

all the weights ²⁰  in the bag are his handiwork.

Amsal 20:14

20:14 “It’s worthless! It’s worthless!” ²¹  says the buyer, ²² 

but when he goes on his way, he boasts. ²³ 

Amsal 20:23

20:23 The Lord abhors ²⁴  differing weights,

and dishonest scales are wicked. ²⁵ 

Amsal 28:24

28:24 The one who robs ²⁶  his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,”

is a companion ²⁷  to the one ²⁸  who destroys.

Yesaya 5:7

5:7 Indeed ²⁹  Israel ³⁰  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ³¹  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ³² 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ³³ 

Yesaya 59:4-7

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ³⁴ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ³⁵  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ³⁶ 

and give birth to sin.

59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

a poisonous snake is hatched. ³⁷ 

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ³⁸ 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ³⁹ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ⁴⁰ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ⁴¹ 

Yeremia 9:4

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ⁴² 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ⁴³ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Yehezkiel 22:13

22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together ⁴⁴  at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed ⁴⁵  they have done among you.

Yehezkiel 45:9-14

45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ⁴⁶  declares the sovereign Lord. 45:10 You must use just balances, ⁴⁷  a just dry measure (an ephah), ⁴⁸  and a just liquid measure (a bath). ⁴⁹  45:11 The dry and liquid measures will be the same, the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, ⁵⁰  and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure. 45:12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs. Sixty shekels ⁵¹  will be a mina for you.

45:13 “‘This is the offering you must offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley, 45:14 and as the prescribed portion of olive oil, one tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer);

Amos 8:5-6

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ⁵²  be over, ⁵³  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ⁵⁴  so we can open up the grain bins? ⁵⁵ 

We’re eager ⁵⁶  to sell less for a higher price, ⁵⁷ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ⁵⁸ 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ⁵⁹ 

a pair of sandals ⁶⁰  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ⁶¹ 

Zefanya 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ⁶²  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ⁶³ 

Every morning he reveals ⁶⁴  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ⁶⁵ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

Maleakhi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁶⁶  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁶⁷  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁶⁸  who refuse to help ⁶⁹  the immigrant ⁷⁰  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Markus 10:19

10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” ⁷¹ 

Markus 10:1

Divorce

10:1 Then ⁷²  Jesus ⁷³  left that place and went to the region of Judea and ⁷⁴  beyond the Jordan River. ⁷⁵  Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

Kolose 1:7-9

1:7 You learned the gospel ⁷⁶  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁷⁷  – a ⁷⁸  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁷⁹  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ⁸⁰  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁸¹  to fill ⁸²  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Efesus 4:28

4:28 The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

Yakobus 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[20:15]  ¹ sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20,15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.

[20:17]  ² tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.

[20:17]  ³ sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.

[19:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “you shall not deal falsely a man with his fellow citizen.”

[19:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

[19:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

[24:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

[24:7]  ⁸ tn Or “and enslaves him.”

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “that thief.”

[24:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.

[25:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.

[25:13]  ¹² tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English.

[25:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.

[25:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”

[25:16]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.

[11:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[11:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “scales of deception.” The genitive is attributive: “deceptive scales.” This refers to dishonesty in the market where silver was weighed in the scales. God condemns dishonest business practices (Deut 25:13-16; Lev 10:35-36), as did the ancient Near East (ANET 388, 423).

[11:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a perfect stone.” Stones were used for measuring amounts of silver on the scales; here the stone that pleases the Lord is whole, complete, perfect (from שָׁלֵם, shalem). It was one that would give an honest, accurate measurement.

[16:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a scale and balances of justice.” This is an attributive genitive, meaning “just scales and balances.” The law required that scales and measures be accurate and fair (Lev 19:36; Deut 25:13). Shrewd dishonest people kept light and heavy weights to make unfair transactions.

[16:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “stones.”

[20:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “[It is] bad, [it is] bad.” Since “bad” can be understood in some modern contexts as a descriptive adjective meaning “good,” the translation uses “worthless” instead – the real point of the prospective buyer’s exclamation.

[20:14]  ²² sn This proverb reflects standard procedure in the business world. When negotiating the transaction the buyer complains how bad the deal is for him, or how worthless the prospective purchase, but then later brags about what a good deal he got. The proverb will alert the inexperienced as to how things are done.

[20:14]  ²³ tn The Hitpael imperfect of הָלַל (halal) means “to praise” – to talk in glowing terms, excitedly. In this stem it means “to praise oneself; to boast.”

[20:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” This expression features a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[20:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is wicked!” (e.g., 11:1; 20:10).

[28:24]  ²⁶ sn While the expression is general enough to cover any kind of robbery, the point seems to be that because it can be rationalized it may refer to prematurely trying to gain control of the family property through some form of pressure and in the process reducing the parents’ possessions and standing in the community. The culprit could claim what he does is not wrong because the estate would be his anyway.

[28:24]  ²⁷ sn The metaphor of “companion” here means that a person who would do this is just like the criminally destructive person. It is as if they were working together, for the results are the same.

[28:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “man who destroys” (so NASB); TEV “no better than a common thief.”

[5:7]  ²⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ³² tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ³³ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[59:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ³⁶ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”

[59:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[9:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:4]  sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

[22:13]  ⁴⁴ sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).

[22:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”

[45:9]  ⁴⁶ sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.

[45:10]  ⁴⁷ sn Previous legislation regarding this practice may be found in Lev 19:35-36; Deut 25:13-16; Mic 6:10-12.

[45:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “ephah,” which was 1/2 bushel.

[45:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “bath,” a liquid measure, was 5 1/2 gallons.

[45:11]  ⁵⁰ sn The homer was about 5 bushels as a dry measure and 55 gallons as a liquid measure.

[45:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels.”

[8:5]  ⁵² sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ⁵³ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:5]  sn Rigged scales may refer to bending the crossbar or shifting the center point of the scales to make the amount weighed appear heavier than it actually was, thus cheating the buyer.

[8:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  sn The expression trade silver for the poor refers to the slave trade.

[8:6]  ⁶⁰ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[3:5]  ⁶² tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ⁶³ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁶ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[10:19]  ⁷¹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20, except for do not defraud, which is an allusion to Deut 24:14.

[10:1]  ⁷² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:1]  ⁷³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ⁷⁴ tc Alexandrian and other witnesses (א B C* L Ψ 0274 892 2427 pc co) read καὶ πέραν (kai peran, “and beyond”), while Western and Caesarean witnesses (C² D W Δ Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 579 1241 al) read πέραν (simply “beyond”). It is difficult to decide between the Alexandrian and Western readings here, but since the parallel in Matt 19:1 omits καί the weight is slightly in favor of including it here; scribes may have omitted the word here to harmonize this passage to the Matthean passage. Because of the perceived geographical difficulties found in the earlier readings (omission of the word “and” would make it seem as though Judea is beyond the Jordan), the majority of the witnesses (A Ï) read διὰ τοῦ πέραν (dia tou peran, “through the other side”), perhaps trying to indicate the direction of Jesus’ travel.

[10:1]  ⁷⁵ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).

[1:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ⁷⁷ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ⁷⁸ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁷⁹ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:9]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁸¹ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁸² tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.